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Showing results for trial marriage. Search instead for serial--marriage.
Synonyms

trial marriage

American  

noun

  1. an arrangement by which a couple live together for a period of time to see if they are compatible for marriage.


Etymology

Origin of trial marriage

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I’m also assuming this is a one-year trial marriage of the new coaching staff and the existing coach-killing quarterback.

From Chicago Tribune • Jan. 22, 2015

Says Dr. Edward Craig Hobbs of Berkeley's Episcopal Church Divinity School of the Pacific: "Something like trial marriage would be vastly superior to our present system, which is marriage, divorce and remarriage."

From Time Magazine Archive

Young spoke flamboyantly of the benefits�notably of "revolutionary" improvement in service�which a "trial marriage" between Central and C. & O. would bring to both partners.

From Time Magazine Archive

The idea of trial marriage is nothing new; secular freethinkers have been proposing it for a number of years.

From Time Magazine Archive

The trial marriage is an ineradicable custom among the Eskimos.

From The North Pole Its Discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary Arctic Club by Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin)